Molecular correlations in sheared thermotropic copolyesters showing banded textures

Banded textures produced in a thermotropic liquid crystal polymer by shearing between glass slides are examined by using both transmission electron and polarized light microscopy. The periodic variation in director orientation about the shear axis, as measured by light microscopy, is shown to be distinctly different from that indicated by electron diffraction. Measurements of birefringence and observation of Zernicke phase contrast indicate periodic variations in optical properties of the polymer, in step with the bands. Such effects are accounted for in terms of a synchronous rotation of the planar aromatic groups about the molecular chain axes. Evidence for an out-of-plane component of molecular orientation is also presented.     

Electromagnetic scattering by a straight thin wire

The traveling-wave energy, which multiply diffracts on a straight thin wire, is represented as a sum of terms, each with a distinct physical meaning, that can be individually examined in the time domain. Expressions for each scattering mechanism on a straight thin wire are cast in the form of four basic electromagnetic wave concepts: diffraction, attachment, launch, and reflection. Using the basic mechanisms from P.Ya. Ufimtsev (1962), each of the scattering mechanisms is included into the total scattered field for the straight thin wire. Scattering as a function of angle and frequency is then compared to the moment-method solution. These analytic expressions are then extended to a lossy wire with a simple approximate modification using the propagation velocity on the wire as derived from the Sommerfeld wave on a straight lossy wire. Both the perfectly conducting and lossy wire solutions are compared to moment-method results, and excellent agreement is found. As is common with asymptotic solutions, when the electrical length of wire is smaller than 0.2 λ the results lose accuracy. The expressions modified to approximate the scattering for the lossy thin wire yield excellent agreement even for lossy wires where the wire radius is on the order of skin depth     

A comparison between different PMD compensation techniques

We quantify the benefits of using different techniques for compensation of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) in fiber-optic communication systems by means of numerical simulations. This is done both with respect to PMD-induced pulse broadening and in terms of system outage probability for different data formats [nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) and return-to-zero (RZ)]. Attention is focused on simple and relevant single- and double-stage post-transmission compensators with a few degrees of freedom (DOF). It is generally believed that a PMD compensator with a polarization controller and a variable delay line can only compensate the PMD to the first order. We show, from analytical results, the counterintuitive fact that this scheme can also partially compensate for higher order PMD. We also investigate the benefit of using a polarizer as compensation element where the optical average power can be used as a feedback signal     

Efficient QoS support in a slotted multihop WDM metro ring

A novel distributed access protocol for a slotted wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) metro ring employing all-optical packet switching and supporting quality-of-service (QoS) classes is presented and analyzed. Since we assume that there are more nodes than available wavelengths in the network, we obtain a scalable multihop WDM ring as underlying network architecture. By dividing each channel into several time slots and further applying destination release and slot reuse, data packets can be efficiently transmitted and received in a statistically multiplexed manner. In our architecture, each node is equipped with one tunable transmitter and one fixed-tuned receiver. Furthermore, as we generally consider so-called a posteriori access strategies, different packet selection schemes are proposed and compared. An analytical model based on the semi-Markov process methodology is developed to quantify the performance of one of these schemes. As a key element of the protocol, an efficient QoS support access mechanism is proposed and its performance is evaluated. The new QoS control scheme adopts a frame-based slot reservation strategy including connection setup and termination, which only slightly increases the signaling and node processing overhead. Thus, an efficient hybrid protocol combining connectionless and connection-oriented packet transmissions is proposed     

Reliability and scale effect in toughness of concrete structures

In the present work, the distribution of the random toughness characteristics (i.e. critical energy release rate, G_1c) has been evaluated on the basis of experimental observations. Fracture test results from three groups of geometrically similar concrete specimens of size (width×total depth×thickness), 420×420×50–1680×1680×200 mm³, made with different maximum aggregate size of 9.5, 19, 38, and 76 mm were analyzed using a recently proposed distribution of extremes. In applications of probability, it is important to use an appropriate distribution type and adequate techniques for estimating the parameters of distribution. In this study, a new type distribution of minima is employed for probability computations. It was noticed that the entropy of distribution increases with the crack length, i.e. the uncertainty of toughness, G_1c, value increases with crack length. A non-linear reduction of the maximum allowable splitting force with the defect size, a, was noticed. For large specimens, the maximum allowable splitting load is more sensitive to the required reliability level than that for small specimens. Reliability increases with aggregate size when all other conditions were constant.     

Microwave signal generation using an optical self-heterodyne technique

A new technique for mixing optical waves to generate microwave-frequency signals using an injection laser diode and a fibre-optic interferometer is reported. A beat signal is produced by interfering light from the laser with light from the same laser emitted earlier at a different frequency. The interferometer consists of an evanescent-field fibre coupler joined to a length of single-mode optical fibre. The laser is tuned by pulsed or bipolar current waveforms superimposed on a DC bias current. Feedback from an external cavity stabilises the laser frequency and reduces its linewidth. Efficient mixing at difference frequencies from 250 MHz to 2 GHz is obtained, with spectral widths of less than 1% of the centre frequency.     

A STUDY OF THE PRIMARY PHASE OF FOOD FREEZE-DRYING IN VACUO

In the development of a novel freeze-drying technique in a fluidized bed at atmospheric pressure, a parallel study was undertaken using a conventional vacuum equipment. Two kinetically distinct phases were observed during freeze drying of representative Pood samples:

(1) a period during which the rate of drying was constant and (2) a second period during which the drying rate sufferedcontinual reduction. This paper focused attention on the primary drying period which corresponded with the kinetics of sublimation of pure